R&B singer Sammie talks new music and growing up in the industry
theGRIO Q&A - When you hear the name Sammie, you probably think of that cute little kid, with the wide smile singing the upbeat and sweet track “I Like It.”...
Then after my sophomore project, “Kiss Me Through the Phone,” “You Should Be My Girl,” “Come With Me,” all successful mainstream records I went through a label change. I just felt, if I was going to be indie, then let me be indie and if I was going to be major then let me be major. That’s when I started my own company in ‘09, took time to build a camp, build a team, find myself, find my sound, like I said Insomnia is that first effort. I understand the disconnect and why people kind of relate and go back to little Sammie, but I am well beyond those years.
Did that break help or hurt your career?
I guess its pros and cons to both sides. Like you said, there’s a disconnect where I am 26 years young now and people still assume that Sammie is still this little kid, but I have grown man bills and grown man issues just like the next person. So I think that would be the negative of it but the positive is that it gave me time to really grow up. So the material that I sing and the content is believable because you didn’t watch me grow up.
I know a lot of artists around my age bracket that never left the public eye and it’s hard to take them seriously as the 25/26 year-olds that they are because you’ve watched them grow up. For me every time I pop back on television I’m this different dude, so it’s like you accept me for what you see opposed to you formulating your own opinion and keeping me in this cubicle. It has its negatives and positives but it’s more good than bad, if I would say so myself.
In the early 2000’s, it’s safe to say you were probably every girl’s first crush, so what was it really like for you in high school trying to be a normal kid?
High school was nuts, I won’t lie. My life in high school was bitter sweet. I had all these girls going crazy. I used to get escorted to class with high school security. I remember the first day of school the principal and the teachers didn’t know what was going on, so they pulled me in the office and they were like who are you? So I had to explain my situation. I didn’t go to a private school; I was going to a public school. And of course, with girls comes the haters and the guys didn’t like that I was taking the girls. So it was a little crazy.
By my junior year they got to understand I was just a student trying to get my education and create some of these relationships that’s everlasting until this day. The only time I experienced craziness after that is – I played basketball for two years, so when I would go to the opposing school campus it was like Michael Jordan was coming to town, and I wasn’t even a star basketball player that’s the crazy part.
I got to experience certain things my industry peers missed out on I was homecoming king, played basketball two years, I was in the choir. Those experiences and moments I will forever cherish. I am very grateful that I was able to have the best of worlds, the fame as well as some normalcy.
You’ve seen a lot of child stars sort of follow in your footsteps, after you it was the B2K and Bow Wow era, and now there’s a bunch of other new child stars like Mindless Behavior to give an example. What’s your advice to current child singers?
To start to define [right now] who they want to be for years to come. I mentioned at the end of this week I am going to write some records for Jacob Latimore’s project. He’s 17 but he’s been around since 13/14 and I got to watch him grow. So it’s pretty dope to be able to work with him because I can relate to what he’s trying to get to. Being a child star isn’t an easy accomplishment in itself but once you establish yourself as a child star the next thing you have to start thinking about is okay how am I going to get out of that.
It’s not easy to grow up in this industry. So you can do that with the content. You don’t have to force it. It’s just trying to get them to look past the now. So if you’re 12, 13 14, leave room for growth in your content and your music to do a project when you’re 17/18 and it still be interesting and keeping the people intrigued. It’s all about evolving. If you don’t evolve you will eventually evaporate. Don’t just do records for the now, think about the career and longevity.
Before you came on the scene, there wasn’t really another mainstream artist out that was as young as you were. Before you, the only other young people that come to mind is Kris Kross. You live in Atlanta now too, so when the news came out about Kris Kross member Chris Kelly’s death – what was your reaction? Did you know him?
I [didn’t] know him personally but of course I know of him and his work and his mark that Kris Kross and the whole So So Def family made in that era. I was just thinking man another one. When I say another one I mean another artist, gone too soon, and if I’m not mistaken, if I have my facts straight, I want to say it was substance abuse. I just hate to see artists go out that way. A lot of people turn to those type of outlets to escape reality. That goes back to like I said a piece of mind and knowing God and knowing that beyond the fame and beyond the money, life is more important. You only get one. You can have all the money in the bank, if you die its gone. The millions will be just scattered out amongst family or friends or whoever you have in your will.
So when I saw the news I was just more so like ‘its another one that chose the wrong way, made one bad decision and it affected his life, literally.’ My condolences goes out to the fam, and the So So Def family and like I said Kris Kross to me are young legends. What they did was unheard of. My heart goes out to that whole situation.
For the latest on Sammie follow him on twitter at @PrinceSammie and check his latest music on princesammie.com.
Rhonesha Byng is a Brooklyn based writer. Follow her on twitter at @NeshasAgenda.
